The University of Southern Indiana, my school, is in the midst of proving that Division II sports can be a bit exciting. Of course, the women's softball team didn't make it very far in the Great Lakes Valley Tournament, but they still had a pretty good season. The men's tennis team just bowed out of the NCAA tournament. Both had post-season appearances and that's what I mean when I say that I am a part of the NCAA Division II powerhouse that is my USI.
Most people don't care about Division II sports outside of the people who have attended D2 schools. The athletes are good, they are better than most of you and I. The athletes aren't as good as you see in D1 (usually) but they are very good. It's my thought that maybe you should (if you're paying attention, which isn't likely) try to follow some D2 teams. They have a lot of heart and you can get a lot closer.
As for my Division II school, my baseball team (and yes, they're mine) is apparently proving a few people wrong in the GLVC tournament. I kept reading that they weren't going to do much even though they had a successful season, they wouldn't do well in the tournament because they were going to play the people in the opposite division of the conference and they would encounter pitching that was better than they had encountered.
They have won the first three games of the tournament with a combined score of 37-7. Yes, their opponants, all three have scored 7 runs. They have scored 37. They won their first game 9-3, second 10-3 and the one today 16-2. Here's the key, their division was the weaker division, it has lost most of the games it's played outside of USI's games. But it doesn't diminish that USI is good enough to be the Number 1 seed in the region according to the NCAA. Now, I definitely will be rooting for them.
But the point of this is this: If you try, you can get to know all the coaches, all the teams, all the athletes and truly get invested if it is a Division II school. I have seen the advertisements for "I Chose Division II" and I know why the athletes chose it. Now, it's time for the fans to choose it too.
